DP World Southampton relationship with GPC Systems goes from strength to strength
To identify and report port road surfaces in need of repair an entirely manual process was relied upon at DP World Southampton. Employees would report the “potholes” once they could be visibly seen on the surface when the damage had already been done. GPC Systems, in partnership with Intel RealSense and Advantech, have developed a fully autonomous process which provides a near real time visual mapping of the port area road surface condition. Developing a proactive approach to road surface repair improves the health and safety of employees and the equipment at the port, all the while potentially reducing repair and maintenance cost.
GPC systems installed hardware (Advantech computer ARK-2250v and Intel RealSense D415 camera) and software developed by GPC Systems into the cab of the straddle. Video and 3D data was continuously transmitted to cloud storage where it was processed. The results were available for all project stake holders to access via an online portal, and the information could then be evaluated on how it could then be used to form a proactive approach to road surface repair.
During a 4-month period the project successfully reported to users of the online portal the location of multiple defects within a few meters. It required no maintenance other than initial repositioning of the camera after installation and remains in operation today.
Object detection models were trained using thousands of images collected from the straddle. This allowed the models to then recognise various types of defects including cracks and potholes. The models also detected items not of interest to eliminate them from the data.
An important part of the process at GPC Systems is user feedback. It is crucial to gather sporadic assessments during a series of online meetings and documents from users at DP World Southampton. This will then ensure the outcome goals continued to align with participant needs. The collaborative approach was met with positive praise from staff at DP World and GPC, commenting on the excellent support from project management and technical teams. Invaluable technical reinforcement was provided by Intel who ensured hardware architecture was appropriate administering feedback on the dashboard user interfaces.
DP World Southampton are continuing to work with GPC Systems to develop a detailed plan for implementation addressing business objectives. The project team have received exceptional user feedback with team members stating how valuable this proactive maintenance tool will provide to their business. Excellent project outcomes, proven results, working towards proactive road surface repair and strong partnerships with Intel and Advantech have cemented a reliable working solution for DP World.
